Hot cross buns may have been first created in St Albans, if local legend is to be believed.

The sweet spiced bun, made with currants or raisins, is marked with a cross on the top and is traditionally eaten on Good Friday across the United Kingdom.

While no-one can definitively trace the invention of the hot cross bun with 100 per cent certainty, St Albans can lay a strong claim.

Brother Thomas’s discovery

Picture the scene, it is the 1300s in the city of St Albans – there are no roads, no internet and worst of all no Netflix.

The Plague is likely still ravaging its way through England and Hertfordshire.

A monk, Brother Thomas Rocliffe, is according to legend hard at work in the kitchen of St Albans Abbey in 1361, when he suddenly realises he has developed a sweet new recipe for buns – possibly with raisins or currants.

But Brother Thomas didn’t choose to horde his new Albans buns and gorge them all for himself (which is pretty impressive considering how amazing hot cross buns are).

Instead he went out onto the streets of St Albans on Good Friday and handed them out to city’s poor – what a guy!

Recipe is still a secret

Brother Thomas’s Albans buns are still produced in the city by Redbournbury Mill, which was once owner by St Albans Abbey.

The buns are hand-formed, so they are a less regular shape than ordinary hot cross buns.

The cross on the top is formed with two slices of a knife – there isn’t a piped cross on top – and the bun has a distinctive, spicy taste.

The original full recipe is a closely guarded secret but ingredients include: flour, eggs, fresh yeast, currants and grains of paradise or cardamom.

The baker today stays faithful to the original 14th century recipe, with only a slight addition of some extra fruit.

Ban on the sale of hot cross buns

Taking a trip forward in time a couple hundred years to the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, in 1592 the London Clerk of Markets issued a decree - how very ye olde – forbidding the sale of hot cross buns and other spice breads.

Although there were a few exceptions to the cruel ban – you could sell them at burials, on Good Friday or at Christmas.

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They used to only be available around Easter, however they are much more widely available in the modern era – they may go on sale in the UK as early as New Year’s Day.

The Very Reverend Dr Jeffrey John, Dean of St Albans Cathedral, said “Recently we’ve lost touch with the significance of the bun, and its link to Holy Week and the Cross.

“These days it’s possible to buy Hot Cross Buns throughout the year.

“Whilst any reminder of the importance of Easter is welcomed, we’ve come to the conclusion that the Alban Bun might be a way of reaffirming the significance of the bun as a symbol of Christ’s death and resurrection.”

There are many superstitions around hot cross buns

As well as picnics you might want to take hot cross buns on your next sea voyage (Image: Getty Images)

We’ve all got our own superstitions – from avoiding cracked pavements and saluting magpies – but did you know many involve hot cross buns?

It is said that buns baked and served on Good Friday will not spoil or grow mouldy throughout the rest of the year – better start baking today then!